U.S. patent number 4,397,091 [Application Number 06/313,990] was granted by the patent office on 1983-08-09 for dispensing container for venus catheters.
Invention is credited to Johan Curelaru, Bengt Gustavsson, Lars-Erik Linder.
United States Patent |
4,397,091 |
Gustavsson , et al. |
August 9, 1983 |
Dispensing container for venus catheters
Abstract
A container for the sterile storage and dispensing of a catheter
intended for insertion into a blood vessel is provided with an
outlet opening for dispensing the catheter therethrough and has
rotatable means for feeding the catheter out through said outlet
and indicating means operatively connected to the feeding means for
indicating the length of catheter dispensed through the outlet.
Inventors: |
Gustavsson; Bengt (Vastra
Frolunda, SE), Curelaru; Johan (Gothenburg,
SE), Linder; Lars-Erik (Billdal, SE) |
Family
ID: |
20342050 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/313,990 |
Filed: |
October 22, 1981 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 22, 1980 [SE] |
|
|
8007400 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
33/732; 604/159;
33/761; 600/434 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61M
25/0113 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61M
25/01 (20060101); G01B 003/00 (); A61M
005/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;33/127,138,139,140,137R
;128/656,657,658,772 ;242/84.8,96 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Little; Willis
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Holman & Stern
Claims
We claim:
1. In a container for the sterile storage and sterile dispensing of
a catheter intended for insertion into a blood vessel wherein the
catheter is stored in the container and the container is a hollow
casing comprising an open-ended drum part and a lid part closing
the open end of the drum part and rotatably interconnected
therewith having an outlet opening for dispensing the catheter
therethrough and wherein a rotatable feeding means is provided
comprising two concentrically spaced peripheral walls in the drum
part forming a peripheral annulus in which the catheter is
helically coiled so that rotation of the drum part with respect to
the lid part in the feeding direction causes the catheter to
advance out through the outlet so that the length of catheter being
dispensed is proportional to the angle of rotation of the drum
part, the total length of the catheter corresponding to more than
one revolution of the drum part, the improvement comprising at
least one rotatable indicating means rotatably mounted in said
container, indicia showing units of length on said indicating means
for indicating the length of catheter dispensed through said
outlet, means on said container for viewing at least one of said
units at predetermined points of rotation of said indicating means,
and a reduction transmission operatively connecting said feeding
means to said indicating means comprising a first gear wheel
fixedly attached concentrically to said drum part, to rotate
therewith and a ring gear integral with said indicating means
rotatably mounted on said lid part and operatively connected with
said first gear wheel so that said indicating means is driven by
said first gear wheel at a lower speed of revolution than said
feeding means and said length units show fractional parts of the
total feeding means, said indicia being graduated to cover the
total length of the catheter.
2. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 and wherein said reduction
transmission further comprises a second gear wheel rotatably
mounted on said lid in meshing engagement with said first gear
wheel and said ring gear.
3. The improvement in a container as claimed in claim 1 wherein
said ring gear is rotatably mounted on said lid part in meshing
engagement with said first gear wheel, and wherein said indicating
means further comprises second indicia showing second units of
length on the outer periphery of said drum part, said second units
of length comprising a graduated scale of smaller increments of
length than the units of length on said ring gear, and means to
read both said units of length simultaneously.
4. In a container for the sterile storage and sterile dispensing of
a catheter intended for insertion into a blood vessel wherein the
catheter is stored in the container and the container is a hollow
casing having an outlet opening for dispensing the catheter
therethrough and a rotatable feeding means which when rotated
causes the catheter to advance out through the outlet so that the
length of catheter being dispensed is proportional to the angle of
rotation of the rotatable feeding means, the total length of the
catheter corresponding to more than one revolution of the rotatable
feeding means, the improvement comprising at least one rotatable
indicating means rotatably mounted in said container, indicia
showing units of length on said indicating means for indicating the
length of catheter dispensed through said outlet, means on said
container for viewing at least one of said units at predetermined
points of rotation of said indicating means and a reduction
transmission operatively connecting said feeding means to said
indicating means comprising a first gear fixedly attached to said
feeding means to rotate therewith and a ring gear rotatably mounted
within said casing operatively engaging said first gear and
integral with said indicating means so that said indicating means
is driven by said first gear at a lower speed of revolution than
said feeding means and said length units show fractional parts of
the total length of catheter dispensed by one revolution of said
feeding means, said indicia being graduated to cover the total
length of the catheter, said feeding means comprising two rollers
rotatably journalled in the container in spaced relation to each
other for gripping and feeding the catheter therebetween towards
and through said outlet opening, a shaft on which one of said
rollers is fixedly mounted extending through the casing, a knob
provided on the outside of the casing mounted on the extending part
of said shaft part of for rotating the shaft, and said first gear
comprises a gear wheel mounted on said shaft in meshing engagement
with said ring gear.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to containers for the sterilized
storage and dispensing of a catheter intended for insertion into a
blood vessel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of central venous catheters is a daily routine during major
surgical operations and in post-operational wards. The supply of
fluid and nutrition and the taking of blood samples is facilitated
by the use of these catheters both for the staff and for the
patient. It is of great importance that the catheter is maintained
in a sterile condition during the advancement into the vein which
is made through a cannula which has been inserted into the vein.
Since the catheters have a length of several hundreds of
millimeters it is difficult to ensure the sterile condition without
the use of special packagings from which the catheters may be fed
directly through the cannula by means of a manually operable
feeding means. In this manner the catheter will remain unexposed,
thereby avoiding the risk of contamination.
Such a combined packaging and feeding device as shown in the U.S.
Pat. No. 3,561,445. The catheter is coiled around an arcuate flange
in a container, and by rotating the container relative to the lid
the catheter will be fed through an outlet opening in the lid and
further through a cannula connected to said outlet opening.
With this known device it is not possible to determine the length
of the dispensed portion of the catheter except by the use of a
graduation applied directly to the catheter, allowing the length of
catheter advanced into the blood vessel to be determined by
checking the length of catheter remaining in the container.
However, it is very difficult to apply an easily readable
graduation on a catheter, partly due to the small diameter of the
catheter and partly due to the fact that any graduation markings
may cause irregularities in the surface of the catheter which must
be completely smooth in order to keep thrombus formation as low as
possible. Furthermore, any markings on the catheter must be
resistant to being dissolved by the blood.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
However, in connection with the use of central venous catheters it
is highly desirable to be able to determine in a simple way the
length of catheter that has been advanced into the blood vessel. It
would thereby be possible to obtain a correct position of the tip
of the catheter and such complications would be avoided that are
connected with a too low or too high position of the catheter tip
in the central venous system.
Furthermore, relocation of the catheter would be avoided, thereby
also avoiding the risk of bacteria contamination. A correct
positioning of the catheter may be obtained also in the absence of
X-ray equipment and personnel for controlling the position of the
catheter in the central venous system, which is of great importance
in emergency conditions, mass casualties, during the performance of
surgical interventions etc.
Since the correct location of the catheter tip is of utmost
importance, surveys have been made on the population for
determining the distance between various puncture sites and the
locations where the catheter tip is to be placed. For instance, it
has been shown that for the basilic vein of the right arm the
distance between the puncture site in fossa cubiti and the junction
between superior vena cave and the right atrium is 48.78.+-.0.29
centimeters for women and 52.90.+-.0.27 centimeters for men. It is
important that the tip of the catheter reaches the correct
location, but if the catheter is advanced too far the heart may be
damaged. For these reasons, a mechanism for the accurate
measurement of the length of the catheter inserted into the central
venous system brings about very important advantages and vastly
improves the results of such catheterization.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a container
for the sterile storing and dispensing of a catheter and containing
a device for giving a direct reading of the length of catheter fed
out of the container .
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be more closely described herebelow with
reference to some embodiments illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a device according to one
embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 2 is a diametral cross-sectional view through the device
according to FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line III--III in FIG.
2,
FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of another embodiment of the
invention,
FIG. 5 is a side view of the device according to FIG. 4,
FIG. 6 is diametral a cross-sectional view through the device of
FIG. 5,
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VII--VII in
FIG. 6,
FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of a device according to a
further embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 8 but with one part of the
container removed for showing the inside of the device,
FIG. 10 is an end elevational view of the device according to FIGS.
8 and 9, and
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XI--XI in
FIG. 8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 the device consists of a
cylindrical container 1 in which the catheter 2 is coiled up. The
container 1 is provided with an outlet 3 to which e.g. a cannula
fitting 4 may be connected. The intention is that the catheter 2
may be fed through the outlet 3 and further through the cannula
without being exposed.
The container 1 comprises two parts, one of which consists of a
drum 5 open towards one end and having a periferal flange 6 at some
distance from the side wall of the drum. The catheter 2 is coiled
around the flange 6. The other part 7 of the container 1 forms a
lid for the first part 5 and has a centrally located opening 8
intended to receive a hub 9 which extends from the bottom of the
first portion 5 and which by snap action may be removably fixed in
axial direction in the opening 8. The parts 5 and 7 of the
container may thereby be rotated relative to each other. The outlet
3 is preferably formed integrally with the lid and consists of a
cylindrical passage and a groove 10 (FIG. 5) formed in the lid 7
connected to said passage and guiding the catheter 2 into the
outlet and cannula fitting.
The catheter 2 is fed through the outlet 3 by rotating the drum 5
relative to the lid 7. The catheter 2 which usually is elastic and
comparatively stiff in order to facilitate the insertion into the
blood vessel will be pressed against the side wall of the drum 5
when lying coiled up in the drum. The friction between the catheter
and the side wall of the drum will then be sufficient to prevent a
relative movement between them.
The hub 9 is provided, at some distance from its free end, with a
gear ring 11 which is preferably formed integrally with the hub.
The gear ring 11 is in meshing engagement with a gear wheel 12
rotatably guided at the inner side of the lid 7. The gear wheel 12
in turn engages an internally geared ring 13 guided in the side
wall of the lid 7. The gear ring 13 is provided with a graduation
14 corresponding to the dispensed length of catheter. The
graduation 14 is readable through a window 15 in the lid 7 which is
provided with a mark 16 against which the length of catheter fed
out is red. If the container is made of transparent material, no
window is needed.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4-7 the catheter 2 is
loosely coiled inside the container 1 and is fed between two
slightly conically tapered rubber rollers 17 and 18 or the like to
the outlet 3. One roller 17 is rotatable by means of a knob 19
journalled eccentrically on the drum. On the same shaft 25 as the
roller 17 there is also provided a gear wheel 20 which acts upon a
gear ring 21 guided against the inside of the side wall of the part
5. The gear ring 21 has a periferal flange 22 at right angles to
the plane of the ring and forming a guide for the ring. The free
edge portion of the flange 22 is guided in a groove 23 in an
inwardly turned circumferential collar 24 of the part 5. The lid 7
is snapped in position engaging said collar. The other roller 18 is
rotatably journalled in the lid 7.
By rotating the knob 19 the catheter 2 will be fed between the
rollers 17 and 18 and the length of the fed-out portion of the
catheter may be read through a window 15 provided in the side wall
of the part 5, the graduation 14 being provided on the flange 22 of
the gear ring 21. The fed-out length of the catheter may
conveniently be read during the feeding out, the container being
held in the position illustrated in FIG. 4.
If the roller 18 is journalled in the part 5 instead of in the lid
7, the lid may be eliminated and instead a plastic bag or the like
may be attached to the part 5 for containing the catheter 2.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8-11 the gear wheel 11 formed
integrally with the hub portion 9 of the drum 5 engages the gears
26 of a gear ring 27 which is rotatably seated in a circularly
depressed portion of the lid 7. As in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3
the container is held by the lid 7 and the drum part 5 is rotated
relative thereto (in the direction of the arrow 30 in FIG. 8) for
feeding the catheter 2 out through the outlet 3. The circular wall
of the drum 5 is provided on its outside with a graduated scale
indicating length units, and the figures of the scale are visible
when opposite a notch 29 in the free edge portion of the periferal
flange of the lid 7. The outer ring of the gear ring 27 is also
provided with a graduation visible through an opening 28 adjacent
the notch 29 in the flange of the lid 7. The graduated scale of the
ring 27 covers the total length of the catheter 2 contained in the
container, and finer readings can be made on the scale provided on
the outside of the drum 5, the latter scale, being divided e.g.
into millimeters.
The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore
described and as shown in the accompanying drawings, various
modifications thereto being possible within the scope of the
appended claims.
* * * * *